Font in Oughtmama

Oughtmama is a place of life, but in a dead woman's mouth, half a mile from the last human voice, behind a ridge that swallows every call. The chamber holds a black basin of clean water and a narrow door of dark wood. The woman who fell through the ridge is still alive, young and aware, but she cannot leave the chamber because the door only opens from the other side. The basin is not for drinking. It is for recording. Each time she touches the water, it takes one memory and gives back one hour of life. She has forgotten every person she loved, including the name of the person who loved her, but she is still alive at thirty-four. The chamber is not a prison. It is a exchange.